Amestris Protector
by HurricaneGohan94
Summary: One year after the War, Naruto celebrates his birthday and receives his father's most powerful jutsu as a gift. Unfortuantely, Truth has plans for our favorite Shinobi and uses said jutsu to its advantage and assigns Naruto the mission of saving the country of Amestris from it's Military corruption. And one more detail, he's not alone. Follows Brotherhood/Manga plot. HIATUS
1. A New Mission

Hey, yeah it's time for my summer fic that i promised you all and it feels good to actually be able to write something. Like I mentioned before, I'm sorry about the other fics being on hiatus, they will be updated in the fall but until then enjoy this. Now to answer some questions, no I cannot use another laptop or get mine back, I already tried. So like I said, sorry but now let's enjoy something new ^^.

"This" is talking

**"This" is Kurama/Truth/jutsu**

_"This" is thinking _

Chapter 1:

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NARUTO!"

Was the shout of many of the mentioned young man's friends. Uzumaki Naruto, newly promoted Jounin, son of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato and The hot blooded Habanero, Uzumaki Kushina, and hero of The Fourth Great Shinobi World War, has just turned 17. It has been one year since Naruto and his friends had defeated the man known as Tobi and since the young sage had become the most widely known shinobi in the Elemental Nations. Like his father before him, Naruto was now a legend in his own right and that fact alone made the young Jinchuuriki grin ear to ear every so often.

Of course not all things were happy and peaceful, Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto's best friend was killed by Naruto during the war and since then his team had been feeling empty inside, Haruno Sakura taking it the worst do to the pinkette's feelings for the deceased Uchiha. Yes, Sakura tried to pretend that she was fine with what happened to her first love but both Naruto and their sensei, Kakashi could tell that the girl was hurting inside and that fact alone makes Naruto feel guilty every day.

The blond sighed, why was he being so sentimental for? It was his birthday, a time for celebration, so Naruto stood up and dusted of his red coat and flak jacket. Since his promotion, Naruto decided to wear the official uniform along with his red sage coat during most of his time and only wore his usual jumpsuit while off duty...Which was rare. Tsuande tended to keep Naruto busy since his promotion in order to get the whole Jounin leader experience.

"It's not like I need it," Naruto mumbled to himself as he walked towards the picnic table where his friends were waiting for him.

"Thanks guys you don't know how much this means to me." Naruto said as he sat down between Sakura and Kakashi.

"Nonsense, Naruto it's only right that you should be able to celebrate your special day after all you've been through." Kakashi reasoned, turning to his former student "Just enjoy yourself."

Naruto grinned "Thanks, sensei"

The group of friends enjoyed their day, going from the park to the Akimitchi's B.B.Q restaurant at Choji's suggestion. The group enjoyed themselves, reminiscing on old times such as, The Chunin Exams, something that made Naruto and Sakura lightly cringe considering that little event was the catalyst for negative future events, mostly involving Sasuke. Seeing that both her student and cousin were getting uncomfortable, Tsuande decided to change the subject.

"Alright everyone, it's time for the birthday boy to open his gifts." Naruto silently thanked the Slug princess for the change of subject and enjoyed opening the many gifts his had given him, among them was a bouquet of varies flowers for his garden from Ino, a ticket for free Ramen for the month at Ichiraku Ramen from Ayame and Teuchi, and a few medical supplies from Sakura. However, the biggest surprise came from Kakashi who was holding a rather old looking scroll.

"Naruto, I've watched you grow in strength and in personality over the years we had worked together on the field. I cannot deny that you're stronger than me now and with that i think it's time you've received your birthright." Kakashi opened the scroll to reveal a blood seal. "Draw blood and swipe the scroll."

Naruto did as instructed and with a poof, the scroll was activated to reveal...A tri-pronged kunai.

"This...Kakashi..this." Naruto couldn't find the words to describe how he was feeling at the moment. He began to tear up as he stared at the very weapon that made his father, Namikaze Minato, a legend.

"Hiraishin no jutsu, your father's most prized technique. His will instructed that you would receive it when you came of age and when you had reached the rank of Jounin. Use it with pride, Naruto and be careful if you use too much chakra, you can overload the technique and end up somewhere you weren't planning on going." Kakashi instructed, Naruto looked on in awe, not able to form words at what he was holding. He gave a foxy grin to his teacher in thanks sense he felt as if he couldn't speak.

"Oh and before I forget, take these." Kakashi handed his student a few more kunai and a belt full of seal tags that were necessary to perform the jutsu.

"Thanks, sensei," Naruto said before rushing off to the nearest training grounds in order to begin practicing. The others shook their heads at his antics and quickly followed after him.

Naruto was found setting up the seal formula onto a tree with a huge grin plastered on his face which, of course, was understandable. Its not every day you receive one of the most powerful jutsu in existence as a birthday gift and on top of that, it's was his father who created it. He felt butterflies in his stomach, this was it, he was about to come one step closer to continuing his father's legacy.

He backed up a few steps just as the rest of the group arrived to watch the display however, some were concerned because he had never practiced a jutsu of this magnitude before. Tsunade saw the concerned looks on the Konoha 11's faces and smiled softly.

"Don't worry, after Naruto's encounter with his father during Pain's invasion, he began to study Minato's history including his jutsu." The Hokage explained

"So you're saying he knows how it works?" Sakura asked, still a little concerned.

"To an extent, yes. However, the amount of chakra needed for the jutsu to work is very specific. Hopefully, he knows that."

(SPOILER ALERT: No, no he doesn't :p)

Meanwhile, Naruto was tuning out everything around him, too excited to be using his father's legendary jutsu. So excited that he didn't notice that he was unconsciously channeling chakra through the kunai...or the static that the weapon began generating.

"Alright, lets test this baby out!" Naruto shouted in joy.

Everyone turned their attention back to their blond friend. Kakashi's eyes widened in horror when he noticed the condition of the kunai.

"NARUTO, NO!" Kakashi shouted, but it was too late, the Jinchuuriki had already launched the kunai.

"Huh? You say something, sensei?" Naruto asked in confusion. Before Kakashi could give a response, the group heard a loud thunderclap and turned towards the speeding kunai that had just made contact with the tree where the formula was drawn. They never expected the tree to implode on itself on impact and a giant, spiraling, vortex to appear in its place.

"W-what the hell is goi-" Naruto froze, he felt a strange pull on his torso and heard his friends gasp in shock. Naruto turned to look at them.

"Guys?"

"N-Naruto, what the hell is that?" Sakura asked, pointing at her friend's lower body. Confused, the blond looked down at himself to where he felt the pull and nearly screamed when he noticed a long, black arm gripping onto him. To his horror he noticed that the ghostly limb was coming out of the vortex he created. He had no idea what was happening, had he done something wrong when performing the jutsu? He was sure everything he had done was correct. He had never heard of freaky black ghost hands coming out of a vortex to be an effect of using the Hiraishin. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, he flipped out.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" just then, dozens of other arms shot out of the vortex and latched onto Naruto. "HEY LET GO OF ME, DAMN IT! LET GO!"

Team Kakashi jumped into action, trying to save their comrade. Kakashi tried using Raikiri to cut through the arms but, to his shock, that he only passed right through them as if it was an illusion. Sai tried using his Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll for the same objective but it failed just the same. Sakura tried to pull Naruto out of their grasp with her strength but he wouldn't budge.

"Damn it let him go! Let him go!" Sakura kept on repeating the same line until she was driven to tears.

"Sakura," she looked up at him and discovered that he was beginning to tear up as well. "Let me go."

Her eyes widened in shock and her grip only became tighter. The arms, meanwhile, began to tug and pull Naruto in albeit slowly because of Sakura's strength.

"Please, let go Sakura, you'll be dragged in too if you don't." Naruto stated, his voice showed the clear pain and fear that was he was trying very hard not to show on his face.

"No, damn it! I already lost Sasuke, I can't lose you too, Naruto. I can't" Sakura began to sob softly, Naruto was having a hard time not doing the same and stared at the pinkette before sighing softly.

"I'm sorry," he said softly "Kakashi, please." Kakashi nodded solemnly and gripped onto his only female student. Pulling hard, he was able to get Sakura to let go. The arms, as if, feeling the loss of the force that was holding them back, pulled hard but faltered slightly when Naruto began dragging his feet. The others looked on and saw the familiar sight of yellow eyes with horizontal pupils and orange pigment surrounding the eyes, Sage Mode.

(play 'Let it Out' from FMA: Brotherhood I had it playing while I was writing this part and it works.)

"EVERYONE…DON'T WORRY…ABOUT ME…I PROMISE…I PROMISE I'M GONNA GET OUT OF THIS…AND COME BACK TO YOU…COUNT ON IT…I SWEAR…I SWEAR ON MY NINDO!" With a grin plastered on his face, Uzumaki Naruto, Hero of Konohagakure no Sato, was pulled into the vortex and vanished from the world he called home.

"Naruto, no, don't leave us...NARUTO!" Sakura's cries echoed through the training grounds as she grieved for her friend.

_"Oh man, my head is spinning, where the heck did I end up?"_ Naruto thought, taking in his surroundings...of a completely white space. Nothing but white for miles it was as if he was somewhere yet nowhere.

**"Welcome to my domain, Uzumaki Naruto."** Naruto spun around to find an odd figure, a completely white silhouette with a strange dark aura surrounding it like an outline.

"What the hell? Who or what are you?" Naruto asked, getting into a defensive stance. The figure grinned at the young Shinobi.

**"Oh, I'm so glad you asked. I am God, I am the World, I am the Universe, I am Truth, I am everything and I am all, and I am also you."** the figure explained

"Okay, say i believe what you say, what happens then?" Naruto went to grip one of his new kunai..only to discover that they were missing.

**"Oh about those pesky weapons of yours."** Truth lifted his weapons pouch and threw it at Naruto who caught it easily. **"I removed them, sorry but I can't have you going home just yet."**

What! You bastard! Give those back!" Naruto demanded rushing towards Truth, his arm cocked back, ready to smash this thing's head in. However, Truth easily caught his fist and twisted his arm behind his back, catching the rookie Jounin off guard.

"**Sorry, boy, but there is a reason why I had you brought here when you overloaded that jutsu of yours. Using my powers, i was able to manipulate your jutsu formula so I could bring you here. Now if you complete my little mission of mine then I will send you home."** Truth explained

"W-what kind of mission?" Naruto asked, gritting his teeth, this thing had one hell of a grip.

**"Oh nothing too hard, I just need you to protect a small country from an ancient evil."** Truth said casually as if it was the most simple thing in the world.

"Wait, what?" Naruto asked

**"Yeah you see a certain annoyance that has been a thorn in my side for centuries has separated itself of its seven deadly sins and has devised a series of events that can mean the death of millions. I have seen your actions in your own world and you may be just what I need to end this little game of his." **Naruto just stared blankly at Truth as it explained his 'mission', he sort of got the gist of it. Stop some asshole with a god-complex from killing people. Seemed like the usual crap he normally had to deal with so why not?

"Alright, I'll help you, as long as I can get home afterword's." Naruto stated

**"Of course, boy, just get the job done."** Truth said

"Okay..soo, how do i get outta here?" Naruto asked with a wide grin. Truth simply pointed towards something in Naruto's direction. The blond Shinobi turned around in confusion to see...a giant gate...that was open...with those freaky arms coming after him again...oh and there was an eye in the center of the gate. Naruto gave the figure a deadpan look.

"I really don't like you." He said as the arms grabbed him once again. Truth waved it off with a shrug.

**"Get in line, kid, oh and you're welcome for the knowledge."** Truth called out as Naruto was dragged into the gate. Said ninja just stared in confusion.

"WAIT! WHAT KNOWLEDGE!" Naruto shouted as the gate closed. Truth chuckled a little but, stopped when it heard footsteps coming from behind it.

**"I must say, he has a rather unique personality, wouldn't you agree?"** Truth asked the new comer

"Hn, Naruto's always been that way, I'm glad he seems a little more mature since we last met. But the dobe will always be the dobe in my opinion." familiar blood red eyes with three tomoe in each spun widely. "I'd like to see how strong he is now."

**"Now, now, you know your mission. Remember to behave yourself or you can forget about our deal." **Truth said with a hard edge to its voice.

"Tch, fine, send me now." the newcomer was grabbed by the same arms as Naruto before him although, he was much calmer then than the blond. The gate shut behind him as Truth grinned.

**"Hehe, good luck to both of you, Uzumaki Naruto and... Uchiha Sasuke."**

* * *

And that about wraps up the first chapter of Amestris Protector. Yes i brought Sasuke into this story, why? Well thing is i miss the old, good, Sasuke and i decided that it would be cool to have him working with Naruto again. Although he won't be particularly nice just think of him as an anti-hero mostly. Yes the two will be meeting Ed and Al and will be traveling along with them throughout the story, but Sasuke won't show up until after the fight in Dublith. I might as well say it so yes, both Naruto and Sasuke will have the ability to use alchemy due to the gate of truth giving them knowledge on the subject and it will be prominent in usage and they will use their jutsu just as much. Now if you're wondering about Truth and Sasuke's deal that won't be explained until after he shows up. And the Hiraishin side-effect is just something I made up, if anyone wants to use it just PM me. So I hope you enjoyed and remember review honestly, later ^^.


	2. New World, New Limits, New Ally

Hello everyone, it's time for chapter 2 and for the plot to finally get going. Before I begin, I would like to address a certain reviewer who said that both Naruto and Sasuke have too much power because of their new alchemic abilities and I just need to rectify this now. Yes, Naruto and Sasuke will have all of their abilities along with alchemy HOWEVER, that doesn't mean they're gonna be uber-godlike. They will have all their abilities sure, but they will not be at full power at all while in Amestris. By giving them the ability of alchemy, I have also taken away most of their power. How much? About 75% is gone until Naruto goes back home and Sasuke is in the afterlife once again. But just because they're so low on power does not mean that they are weak. No, in fact, they are still much stronger than any of the humans but, the Homunculi may give them a bit of trouble as you will soon see. Now no more spoilers, let's get this started ^^.

"This" is talking

"**This" is Kurama/Truth/jutsu**

"_This" is thinking_

**Chapter 2:**

"Ugh, oh man, what happened last night?" Naruto groaned, rubbing his head as he got off the ground. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Naruto stood up from his place on the ground and took a look around his surroundings. He was surprised to not see the familiar open field of Training Ground 7 that he had come to know and love, but a small, quiet, town that didn't compare to the size or the hustle and bustle of Konoha. From his point of view, he saw that the place seemed oddly primitive do to the condition of some street lights and house structure and yet advanced do to the many machines that he saw driving about and they clearly weren't cars. Naruto began having a small panic attack as he saw that there was nothing even remotely familiar about his location.

"_Just where the hell am I?" _He asked himself

"**You can't be serious; you've forgotten already, gaki?" **Naruto jumped slightly at the familiar voice.

"_K-Kurama? What the hell is going on? Where am I? And why the hell is my uniform doing looking like it just had a fight with a meat grinder?" _Naruto kept questioning while looking down at the tattered clothing that was his uniform. Kurama sighed, how come his host had to be so stupid sometimes.

"**Think back, Naruto, what's the last thing you remember doing?" **Kurama said, trying to get the panicky teenager to calm down. Naruto pondered the thought for a few minutes, trying to remember exactly what had transpired. His eyes snapped opened as his memories came rushing back to him. He began to remember everything, his birthday part, his gifts, the Hiraishin, the freaky hand things, and most importantly his conversation with truth. Not only that but he had this strange thought nagging him in the back of his head, telling him to try something.

"**So do you remember now?" **Kurama asked

"_Yeah, I remember my deal with the creepy guy in that room. He gave me that mission to protect some country from some ancient evil. And then he opened some strange gate where those freaky hands grabbed me again. Then, he told me, "You're welcome for the knowledge" now I'm here." _ Naruto explained, summarizing what he remembered to Kurama. _"So this place, Dublith, must be part of that country, Amestris." _

Kurama sat up straight in his cage, narrowing his eyes. **"How the hell did you know that?" **

Naruto was going to ask his tenant what he meant by that but, he too narrowed his eyes in confusion. How did he know that? This was a completely different area, no, universe, he shouldn't have knowledge of anything that had to do with his new surroundings. Then it hit him, what Truth said, "You're welcome for the knowledge", that was it.

"_This must be part of the knowledge that the creepy guy gave me." _Naruto thought, again, that same feeling that told him to try something struck him again.

"**Yes, that makes sense, but my question is, why? Giving you knowledge of this country is helpful, sure, however, I don't believe something that calls itself 'God' will give you something like that without something in exchange." **Kurama explained, suddenly getting a sick feeling.

Once again, that nagging thought struck Naruto again and it finally got to him. _"Hey Kurama, I'm gonna try something so hold that thought for just a sec." _

Naruto focused himself for a few moments before…clapping his hands together. Kurama couldn't help but sweat drop at the action, what was that supposed to accomplish?

Naruto, however, felt something strange when doing the action, for one, he heard a distinct sound from the clapping, almost like a 'ping' sound and he felt some strange energy building beneath his feet. Naruto had another thought, this time, about a weapon and slammed his hands on the ground. Kurama was about to question Naruto's mental condition when his eyes suddenly widened when he saw a blue lightning coming from the ground. The roof that Naruto was in top of began to dent on the part Naruto slammed his hands again and began to form a katana with a red handle as Naruto slowly lifted his hands off the ground.

To say the least, Kurama was struck stupid. **"A-amazing, what did you just do?"**

"_Alchemy," _Naruto answered, staring at his katana in awe. "_The science of understanding, deconstructing, and reconstructing matter in order to create something into a completely different object than what it once was just by knowing its materials. According to the knowledge I gained, this is a very common practice in this country._" Naruto went on to explain more of the concept in detail (That you should all know, otherwise why are you reading this :p) and to say the least, Kurama was intrigued by this new ability. Something was still bothering the giant fox bijuu, he couldn't seem to shake off this sick feeling he got from Naruto's explanation.

"_**To gain one thing, something of equal value must be given. Why does that give me this feeling…unless…CRAP!" **_Kurama let out a low growl, he just prayed he wasn't right about his theory. **"Naruto, listen carefully, don't question me alright. I want you to gather your chakra and bring it to your maximum."**

Naruto blinked at the odd request "_Why do y-"_

"**NO QUESTIONS, JUST DO IT!"** Naruto jumped and hurriedly formed a ram seal and began to gather his chakra. Naruto suddenly blinked, he felt some of his chakra but the rest felt…blocked? Naruto began to sweat and tried to force some of his chakra through but it was no use, instead, it began to drain him.

"_W-what?"_

"**It's as I feared, apparently the law of equivalent exchange doesn't only apply to alchemy, gaki." **

"_What do you mean? What the hell is wrong with me? Why are my reserves and power so much weaker?" _

"**Think about it, you gained knowledge of this country and this alchemy thanks to Truth. In exchange however.." **Kurama trailed off, not needing to say anything further.

"_That bastard took my power, now I'm down to only a quarter of what I should be." _Naruto growled in frustration, how the hell was he going to get anything done at the level he was at now.

"**My theory is that the enemies here are not that strong and maybe introducing your natural strength to this world would be not only overkill but you may upset some sort of balance in this universe. It may only be a theory but, even if it's not true, you will find a way to adapt and who knows, it may be a good challenge for you." **Kurama smirked, knowing Naruto would like that idea even though said blond was sulking.

Naruto decided Kurama was right; it could be fun to have an actual challenge after so long. The Jounin looked himself over and couldn't help but scowl at the condition of his clothes. Naruto rummaged through the remains of his vest and found a storage scroll that contained an extra uniform if needed. After, switching outfits and putting his favorite red coat away for repairs later, he began to jump from roof to roof while trying to figure out what to do next. He may have had simple knowledge of the country but that didn't mean he knew of them in detail, not only that but he had no idea where he was going. He was about to lose it, until he came across a rather interesting sight.

Some guy wearing a suit of tacky looking armor with the helmet reminding him somewhat of a certain one-tailed raccoon's face, was speaking to a man with an abnormally big nose and a katana at his side. Said man also had a blond girl with tribal tattoos and….a lizard man standing next to him. Just from Naruto's point of view he could tell that the three weren't the type of people to mess with, just from their posture he could tell they had combat experience. Or at least two of them did he wasn't sure about lizard man over there. In fact, that alone is getting his attention now. If he were to guess, it was a Chimera. So what did that mean for the others, were they Chimera too? He watched intently, he needed answers.

"Looks like he showed up." Katana guy muttered, Armor guy held up a note.

"'We know your secret, meet us at the Devil's Nest if you want to talk'. I guess you're the guys who sent this?" The Armor guy questioned

"That's right and we know a lot about you." Katana guy stated

"That's good, because there's a lot about me that I don't know." The Armor guy retorted

"Well then, that means I'm the guy you wanna talk to," Katana guy began "Why don't you come with us.

"But my teacher always told me not to go with strangers." The Armor guy stated, Naruto blinked just how old was this guy? The Katana guy apparently had the same question.

"How old are you, kid?" He asked

"14," was his answer. Naruto was impressed, that was one TALL 14 year old.

"Well come on then, I think 14 is old enough to think for yourself, kid. You gotta act like an adult and start taking some risks." The Katana guy advised

"You think so, I should think for myself?" Armor guy asked

"Yes, and you can start by…"

*BAM*

Katana guy was met with a swift kick to the face.

"So I thought it over for myself, and I decided that I should make you tell me what I wanna know." Armor guy said smugly, earning a silent 'nice' from the hidden Shinobi.

"So it's the hard way huh? Katana guy got up and unsheathed his sword, setting up a stance only to be met by an open palm to the face. Katana guy angled his blade and took off Armor guy's helmet. Naruto was shocked when he looked inside the armor.

"I-it's empty," The blond muttered in shock. He was even more shocked when the girl twisted and turned her body like a snake and entered the empty armor, much to the armor's utter shock and disgust.

"You're not as strong as I am and you can't restrain me forever." The Armor guy shouted

"I know but I'm only meant to slow you down," Snake girl began

"For my turn," A muscular and tall grey haired man finished from behind the Armor guy. Armor guy tried to attack but was too slow and was held in an arm lock while being slammed to the ground, restraining him completely. "You okay in there, Martel?"

"Oh I'm just lovely," Martel said sarcastically

"You people aren't human are you?" Armor guy asked

"Good guess, they're Chimeras and they happen to work for me." Naruto looked down to see a man with spikey hair, sunglasses, a fur lined vest over a dark red, almost black sleeveless shirt, and leather pants and boots. He was holding the helmet of the armor. Naruto narrowed his eyes, this guy looked human but something about him felt…off.

Naruto decided that it was safer if he didn't jump down yet, not with all those Chimeras and an unknown. His power was not much weaker than normal and he would rather avoid a large confrontation until he got a grip on his limits. He watched as the people brought in their new guest and decided to formulate a plan before heading down into the bar. After all, as far as he could see, this was a rescue mission as much as it was information gathering and he couldn't afford any mistakes.

_1 hour later_

Naruto had finished his planning and was about to hop off the roof and head inside the bar when he saw the lizard Chimera being dragged by a short kid who looked to be a about a year or two younger than him, wearing all black and had golden hair and eyes. Naruto also saw that the kid's right arm wasn't made a flesh and bone but steel.

"_Geez, what's with all the circus clowns in this world?" _Naruto thought

"**Says the guy with a giant fox sealed in his belly." **Kurama said with a deadpanned look

"_Oh shut up,"_ Naruto retorted. Naruto watched the kid lift the mutated man by his collar.

"Is this where you brought Alphonse?" He growled

"Y-yes, please don't hurt me." The Lizard Chimera begged. Naruto looked down with a serious expression,

"_Alphonse? Does he mean the armor guy?" _Naruto thought. Hopping off the roof, landing behind the enraged kid.

"Hey, Shorty are you…" Naruto suddenly ducked when the Lizard guy was thrown his way with surprising force.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT YOU COULD SQUISH LIKE A BUG!" The kid shouted, Naruto sweat dropped, he never even said that.

"Uh yeah, sorry I didn't mean to offend you but, I was going to ask if you were talking about a guy wearing a suit of armor." Naruto explained, immediately the kid's face darkened and he clapped his hands together, transmuting his arm into a blade, much to Naruto's surprise and shock.

"What do you know about my little brother?" The kid questioned pointing his blade at Naruto who had his hands up in a defensive gesture.

"_Little brother? How ironic," _Naruto thought "Look I saw what happened to.. Alphonse was it? He was captured by some people who didn't look human. I was just on my way inside to save him until you came." Naruto explained

"What's your name?" The kid asked, still holding his blade up. Naruto simply smirked,

"I believe it's common courtesy to introduce yourself before asking for another's name." Naruto stated, the kid's frown never faltered however.

"Edward Elric, The Fullmetal Alchemist." Edward stated

"Edward huh, I've heard worse. Name's Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto stated, he wouldn't give out any information about himself other than his name until he was sure he could trust the people of this country.

"Naruto? And you think my name is weird?" Naruto ignored the stab at his name, in this situation he had to be serious.

"Never mind that, I'm sure you want to save your brother, so I'm gonna help you out." Naruto said simply, much to Ed's confusion.

"And why would you help me? I don't even know you, so how can I be sure you're trustworthy?" Ed asked

"I need some answers on a few things and I think you, your brother, and these guys can give me them." Naruto stated, Ed's eyes narrowed a bit, you can't really blame the guy for being so suspicious, he had no idea what Naruto was planning if anything at all but, he'll keep that to himself…for now.

"Alright than, just don't get in my way. I don't have time to baby-sit anyone." Ed stated making Naruto chuckle at his attitude.

"The same to you, Fullmetal Alchemist."

* * *

And that about wraps up chapter 2, hope you enjoyed. Until next time, review honestly…later ^^.


	3. Homunculus

I'm back so let's begin ^^ btw I'm gonna start using the Japanese names for jutsu for this story simply because they sound better. (the other stories will remain the same)

"This" is talking

"**This" is Kurama/Truth/jutsu**

"_This" is thinking_

**Chapter 3:**

_20 minutes earlier_

Alphonse Elric was many things, a soul in a suit of armor, yes, much taller than his older brother, another yes, is more recognized as the Fullmetal Alchemist than his brother who actually holds that title, most definitely. Is there anything wrong with that? Well yes, in fact, the first trait is actually the whole reason as to why he was captured by a bunch of freaks that are supposedly chimera. Al sighed to himself, why did all of this stuff have to happen to him? Between losing his mother and failing the Human transmutation to resurrect her, losing his body and becoming a suit of armor, and being captured, he felt that maybe he was getting the short end of the stick in many of these situations.

"_Oh well, could be worse I guess." _He thought

Meanwhile, the leader of the group who captured him was examining Al's body, taking off his helmet to see Martel giving him a deadpan look.

"Whoa, you're actually hollow," the leader began "My name is Greed and I wanna be your friend." If Al could make facial expressions, Greed would've gotten an 'Are you serious' look.

"Well if that's true, then why not tell me who you guys really are?" The others just gave him a look of confusion as Al sat deep in thought. "You're not chimeras, its impossible no one's made a chimera that can talk." The others in the room just smirked at him.

"You can't believe everything that the government tells you, kid." Greed stated, tapping Al's armor. "You got all the proof inside of you, that girl in your armor is part snake. The big guy over there is…hey Roa what were you made with..cow?"

"Yeah" was Roa's reply, Greed shrugged and continued on.

"We've also gotta lizard and a crocodile and the little guy you knocked out tends to lift his leg when he pees."

"ONLY ONCE," the dog chimera exclaimed.

"You're part dog?" Al asked comically

"Yeah it's actually not so bad,"

"Incredible who could be capable of creating you all." Al pondered

"The Military," Greed answered

"What?"

"Yup, there's a shadow world beneath yours that's jam-packed with the impossible, hell I'm more uncommon than they are." Greed lifted his hand, revealing an Oroboros tattoo on the back. "I'm a Homunculus,"

"A Homunculus?" Al repeated, thinking back to a time when he read about such beings when he was taking his first steps into alchemy along with Ed. "That can't be, Homunculi are just a theory, no one has been successful in creating one!"

Greed clicked his tongue and removed his sunglasses, looking a bit irritated.

"Guess I gotta prove it," without warning, Roa swung his war hammer and took off Greed's face. Alphonse looked on, shocked at the sudden brutality and carnage.

"W-what was that for.." Al trailed off as Greed's body lifted itself off the ground. And right before the young alchemist's eyes, Greed's face began to regenerate itself slowly, showing the reconstruction of his skull, muscles, tendons, and even the eyes. It was a rather grotesque sight to behold. Greed snapped his neck into place and cleaned himself off, smirking at Al.

"That's makes one time I've died." Greed stated holding up a finger

"N-no way," Al responded, awestruck

"You get it yet, nothing is impossible alright. I find it strange that you can't believe that yourself, considering your soul is bonded to a suit of armor." Greed explained

"How do you know that?" Al asked

"People like to talk in the shadow world and I've got plenty of friends." Greed simply answered, getting closer to Al's face. "Now let's cut the casual shit, I want to know more about that immortal body of yours."

"And why is that?"

"Come on an individual soul transmuted and bound to an object? That sounds like the perfect way to gain immortality." Greed said, beginning to go into better detail of his reasons. "You see I'm Greed, I want everything that you can imagine, money and women, power and sex, status, glory. I demand the finer things and of course I crave eternal life."

"But why, I thought you were already immortal." Al said

"Well I am put together a little better than I normal human, I am nearly 200 years old." Greed explained "But I wouldn't say that I'm immortal."

Al stood silent

"Now I've spilled my guts, now I think it's only fair that you do the same for me. How'd you get your body?"

Al continued to stay quiet

"You should make it easier on yourself and tell him." Martel advised from inside the armor. "Or we can just dismantle you and have you examined."

"To be honest I don't know, My memory is a bit foggy about those events. But even if I did remember I'm not the one who did the transmutation." Al explained, sounding a little down.

"Well in that case, I'll just ask the person who did." Greed said

_Present time_

"Is this the room?" Ed asked holding the lizard chimera by the back of his clothing.

"Y-yes"

"Okay then." Ed kicked the door open and threw the cowardly chimera to the ground but, not before knocking him out.

Naruto scanned the room, looking over the people present.

"Looks like we found your brother, Metal-boy." Naruto stated much to Ed's irritation

"Watch it, Whiskers or I'll kick your ass next." Ed said, seriously why did he let this freak tag along again?

"Nii-san," Al said

"Never crossed my mind that you could get kidnapped," Ed stated

"Nii-san, this guy's a Homunculus." Al shouted

"A-are you serious?" Ed asked, surprised

"_Homunculus?"_ Naruto thought, staring Greed down

"Hey, way to ruin it," Greed complained

"He may know a way for us to get our bodies back." Al informed

Greed only silently held up his hand with a smirk.

"An Oroboros tattoo," Ed stated, Naruto silently marked off that term too.

"Nothing gets by you, huh?" Greed asked, rhetorically "I was hoping that I would only have to deal with the giant metal brat."

"Why not ask your partners for any information you wanna know." Ed stated

"Partners?"

"Yeah, the rest of the Oroboros gang from the 5th Laboratory, they had a couple of soul-bonded suits of armor with them." Ed informed

"Really? Well as handy as that is, I'm afraid we don't talk anymore so your info is irrelevant." Greed said "However, I will make a deal with you. I know you guys are desperate to get your bodies back so, I'll tell you how to fabricate your own Homunculus if you teach me how to transmute a soul."

"Sounds like a stupid deal if you ask me." Naruto stated, narrowing his eyes and also getting attention to himself.

"Um, Nii-san who is this guy anyway?" Al asked

"I don't know I just met him and he gave me info on who took you. So I let him tag along." Ed explained

"Aw who cares," Greed said, getting attention back on him. "Back to what I was saying before, I honestly don't know why you would want your old body back, seems like you got a perfect body already."

Edward's eyes began to narrow and he gritted his teeth. Naruto took a few steps back just in case the smaller blond released his fury upon him.

"You're wrong!" Al shouted

"Oh come on you don't need sleep, you don't need to eat, hell you don't even need to use the bathroom. Sounds great to me." Greed stated, much to Ed's utter anger. Before the young alchemist could go on a rage induced rant, Naruto saw an opening an Greed's defense, it was time to strike!

"**Raiton: Gian (Lightning Release: False Darkness)" **Naruto exclaimed, releasing a stream of lightning from his mouth. The chimera scattered, Roa grabbing Alphonse as he avoided the jutsu, the only one who didn't move was Greed.

"_Got him," _Naruto thought, frowning however due to the lack of power he felt behind his attack. _"Damn, this power reduction sucks hard! That jutsu was crap compared to what my usual output is!"_

While Naruto was having an inner rant, the surrounding spectators all had one collective thought. _"What the hell was that!" _

Ed wanted answers but, a sinister laugh behind the smoke created by the blond Shinobi cut him off.

"Whoa, that would've hurt a lot if I didn't use my shield."

Naruto and Ed stared wide eyed at the avaricious Homunculus as they got a clear view of him, never noticing the chimera escaping with Al until it was too late.

"Alphonse!" Ed exclaimed

"You shouldn't worry about your brother," Greed began, his body now covered in a black, skin-like armor complete with claws and a demonic looking face with purple pupils and black irises. "You got bigger problems to worry about now."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, he could tell that penetrating his skin will be a lot harder now and his new metallic voice just gave him the creeps.

"What the hell is that?" Ed growled

"Sense you asked nicely, I'll tell you," Greed said, sarcasm evident in his voice "My abilities allow me to re-arrange the configuration of my carbon atoms, turning my skin into Graphene, the result is my Ultimate Shield. Let's see you break this."

Naruto sweat dropped and Ed gaped, this guy was either extremely confident or extremely stupid. He practically just gave out his weakness and both blonds were betting he didn't even realize it. However that didn't mean this would be easy to win, they had no idea how Greed fought so he was still a dangerous adversary. Ed turned to Naruto, scowling all the while.

"Look I don't know what you just did back there, but I want answers later and I want to know everything once this is over. You owe both me and my brother that because you're the reason they got him again." Ed stated, Naruto sighed, this guy knew how to give someone a guilt trip.

"Fine, if I'm going to be around you more, I think it's best if I tell you a little about myself, but that goes double for you, Metal boy." Naruto retorted

"Deal,"

"I wouldn't be so confident!" Without warning, Greed shot in between the two fighters, backhanding Ed into the wall. He spun and delivered a swift kick to Naruto's gut, sending him in the wall opposite to Ed. Both boys coughed up blood and both were breathing heavily. "Oh come on, that was a love tap."

A tick mark grew on Naruto's head

"I'll show you love tap, you ugly bastard!" Naruto clapped his hands, activating his new alchemic abilities, creating a spear from the ground as Ed looked on in shock.

"_Alchemy without a transmutation circle, just who is this guy?" _Ed filed the thought away for later and used his alchemy to transmute his automail arm into a blade.

Naruto threw his spear at Greed and flashed through hand seals as the man was preparing to dodge, **"Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)"**

The spear was hit with a massive wind that accelerated it's already impressive speed and hit Greed dead center. Naruto cheered in triumph while Ed smirked, that wasn't so hard.

"Are you done cheering like a little girl?" both boy froze as Greed got off the ground and pulled out the spear that both discovered, to their shock, barely entered even an inch into his abdomen. "If that was your best than you're never going to hurt me."

Ed took his chance and ran at Greed, clapping his hands together and slamming them into the Homunculi's body however, it appeared that nothing happened. Greed punched Ed in the face, sending him spiraling in the air, causing the arrogant Homunculus to turn his transmuted back on Naruto. Big mistake.

Naruto shot off at speeds that only a Shinobi could pull off, all the while, gathering chakra in his hand that began to spin wildly. Greed felt extreme pain when something began to grind into his back.

"**Rasengan!" **Naruto exclaimed, his signature jutsu digging into Greed's back and sent him spinning into the wall. "Take that, asshole."

It was in that moment, that Izumi Curtis barged in looking angrier than normal. That anger vanished however, when she noticed her gaping student holding his automail arm that seemed to be damaged maybe from hitting the wall so much if the craters around the room were any indication. She also saw a young man wearing strange attire with his arm outstretched and someone's legs dangling from the wall as the person tried to get free. After seeing all this she just needed to ask,

"What did I miss?"

* * *

And that about wraps up chapter 3, I know it's a little shorter than normal but I promise things will begin to get longer soon, I promise. So until next time, review honestly, later ^^.


	4. From Questions to Answers

Quick not before we begin, I would like to point out a few things some people have asked about. There will be no pairings that involve either Naruto or Sasuke and nothing is going to change that fact, Sasuke will be making his first appearance soon no, I won't say how soon, and about the no transmutation circle thing for both ninja, does this mean that they may be sacrifices? Well let's just say that I'm thinking about it ;). Now let's begin, OFF WE GO!

"This" is talking

"**This" is Kurama/Truth/jutsu**

"_This" is thinking_

**Chapter 4:**

Izumi was confused and it only got worse as she stared at the scene before her. The man who could only be identified by his footwear due to the fact that his entire upper-body was stuck in the wall was spouting muffled curses directed towards the blond whiskered kid with his arm stretched. The kid himself looked well fit although his style of clothing seemed odd and he seemed to have a small twitch in his eye, probably because of the muffled colorful vocabulary being shot at him. Then, there was her student, Edward who just gave the pair of legs a dry look while holding his automail arm, probably due to malfunction. Izumi let out a sigh of annoyance and proceeded to throw the unconscious chimera at her student, the force of which slammed him into the wall.

"YOU IDIOT, FIRST YOU FORGET TO PUT THE BROOM AWAY AND NOW YOU GET YOURSELF BEATIN TO HELL! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAVE FOR YOURSELF!" Izumi shouted, doing, in Naruto's opinion, the perfect imitation of Iruka's 'Big-headed demon jutsu'.

"I-I'm so sorry sensei!" Ed shouted in fear, Naruto looked on in confusion

"_Sensei?" _Naruto gave Izumi a once over, she was a rather beautiful woman, very curvaceous she seemed to stay in good shape. She had black hair in treads up in a small ponytail and was wearing a black dress that showed off a fair amount of cleavage and the tattoo she had on her chest. Her footwear consisted of simple sandals and her expression made him flinch, it was as if Tsunade came with him to this world if the glare she was giving him was anything to go by. He also noticed that her skin complexion was oddly pale for someone who seemed to be in such good shape, it wasn't Sai level pale, no, this was almost sickly. _"Not sure what to make of her, but she's apparently trained Ed and Al so she can't be bad at all."_

"You, kid, who are you?" Izumi demanded, making Naruto flinch at the tone

"Um, sorry about that, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, it's nice to meet you…" Naruto trailed off, Izumi took that as a way of returning the gesture

"Izumi Curtis," She turned to her still petrified student, "You mind explaining to me what's been going on and how you know my two students."

Naruto gave Izumi the summary of what had been going on up till her arrival, being careful not to bring up his origins.

"I see, so now we need to find Alphonse and I believe that this Greed can give us are answers." Izumi turned to where Greed had been stuck in the wall…only for him to not be there.

"W-where did he…" Naruto began before a familiar voice cut him off,

"Go?" Everyone turned to find Greed with his arms crossed as he leaned against the makeshift exit that Izumi created when she made her entrance. "It's been fun, but I got a few people to meet up with and I'm not one to keep others waiting."

"You're not going anywhere!" Izumi shouted, transmuting the floor into a trail of spikes that flowed toward Greed, intent on impaling the Homunculus.

Greed scoffed at the attack and instead of knocking it aside like he would normally, he just ran out of the room and down the hall, the spikes missing him by mere inches.

Damn it, we need to follow aft..BLEECH" Naruto and Ed snapped their heads in the direction of Izumi who was coughing up large amounts of blood.

"SENSEI/IZUMI," Both boys shouted rushing to the older woman's side.

"D-don't worry about m-me, just f-follow him." Izumi said weakly

"That's crazy, you need help, we can't leave you." Naruto stated, Ed turned his head toward his new partner.

"Naruto, I'll stay with Sensei, I want you to find Al for me. My arm is too damaged to risk in another fight." Ed said, though on the inside he felt as if he was asking too much of Naruto. After all, they just met about an hour ago and he didn't know if he could put so much trust in a stranger even if he did help out to this point. Naruto could tell that much when he looked at Ed's expression but just smiled and gave the smaller blond a thumbs up.

Don't worry, I'll find Al for you and kick Greed's ass while at it," Naruto began turning around to head off. "And I never go back on my word." With that Naruto ran down the hall, trying to catch up to Greed.

"Yeah I hope so," Ed muttered, just as a military officer entered the room.

_With Naruto_

Naruto was beginning to lose his patience, he had been running for a good ten minutes, trying to find any trace of either Greed or Al but, ended up coming up short. Greed was able to give Naruto the slip and he didn't like that fact one bit.

"_Damn it, where the hell did he go!"_

"**Relax, gaki he clearly couldn't have left the building, try using Sage Mode to sense him out." **Kurama suggested, Naruto blinked before face palming, why didn't he think of that?

"**Because, you're an idiot."**

"_Shut it, you overgrown carpet."_ Naruto blocked out Kurama's colorful retort and focused on gathering the nature chakra, he was thankful that he could at least do that despite his current location. As the orange pigment began to become visible around his eyes, Kurama's voice rang in his head.

"**Gaki, duck now!" **

Naruto broke concentration, losing his partial hold on Sage Mode and duck just in time to see a fist ram into the wall behind him, creating a small crater.

"You were able dodge my fist, you're fast on your feet, young man."

Naruto blinked and looked up to see a very tall and VERY muscular shirtless man staring him down. The man himself was mostly bald with the exception being a small lock of blond hair above his forehead and had a very wide moustache that covered the majority of his mouth. He had on blue pants and black boots and sported two spiked, grey gauntlets both with transmutation circles on the back. All in all, the man was a very intimidating sight for a normal person anyway and Naruto was far from normal.

Naruto's eye twitched, why the hell did this guy try to turn his head into mush, he'd never even seen him before!

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM!" Naruto shouted, waving his arms around comically "I'M NOT A PUNCHING BAG YOU MUSCLE BOUND APE."

The man felt a slight twitch in his own eye at the way Naruto addressed him. "HOW UTTERLY DISRESPECTFUL, COME BOY, I SHALL TEACH YOU THE PROPER WAY TO ADDRESS YOUR ELDERS. NOW, YOUNG CHIMERA, I SHALL GIVE YOU THE HONOR OF FACING ME IN BATTLE, MAJOR ALEX LOUIS ARMSTRONG, THE STRONG ARM ALCHEMIST. PREPARE YOURSELF." Armstrong shouted, sending another punch at Naruto. The seasoned jounin side stepped and grabbed the outstretched arm, lifting himself with it to gain some momentum and twisted his body to knee Armstrong in the face. The alchemist threw Naruto off his arm just before he made contact, sending him across the hall. With the ease of a ninja of his caliber, Naruto simply flipped and landed feet first holding his hands to show he meant no harm.

"Wait a sec, I'm not a.."

"It's too late to beg for mercy!" Armstrong interrupted, slamming his left fist into the ground, causing bits of stone to rise. With practiced precision, Armstrong used his right fist to punch the stone and to Naruto's surprise, transmuted the stone into a large, metal spike that rocketed towards Naruto. Naruto quickly went through hand seals and held both arms out in front of him.

"**Futon: Kami Oroshi (Wind Release: Godly Wind from the Mountains)!"** A blast of wind slammed into the spike, he couldn't stop it but he could throw off its trajectory, causing it to crash into the wall behind him. Naruto's patience was beginning to shorten, he didn't have time for this. "Now if you would just listen.."

"The time for talk has ended!" Armstrong proceeded to throw punch after punch at Naruto who was fast enough to dodge but, not enough to counter.

"_Fine, looks like I'll have to knock him around to get my point across."_ With that thought in mind, Naruto jumped back from Armstrong through a multitude of backflips until he thought he was at a safe distance.

"I told you to listen to me but, now I have no choice but to fight." Naruto once again sped through hand seals like a pro, confusing Armstrong on their significance. **"Futon: Renkudan (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet)!"**

Armstong's eyes widened when the supposed chimera let out a ball of wind from his mouth at a great speed. Thinking quickly, he slammed his fist into the ground, transmuting a wall around him. The blast collided creating a smokescreen that kept Armstrong invisible. Naruto kept his guard up, he had no idea what these people were capable of. He was right to do so when he saw multiple spikes fly toward him. He had no time for another jutsu, so did the next best thing by transmuting a wall in front of him similar to what Armstrong himself had done.

"_Man that was too close, thank goodness for these new abilities, alchemy kicks ass."_ Naruto thought with a small sigh of relief.

Armstrong, however, became suspicious seeing Naruto use alchemy without a transmutation circle.

"_Could he have committed the taboo as well? No, he appears physically and mentally healthy. So how is he able to do that?_ Armstrong pondered

Naruto saw this and took it as an opening as he went through hand seals once again. **"Raiton: Jibashi (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder)!" ** Naruto let off a surge of lightning chakra, catching Armstrong off guard and shocking him enough to numb him for a few minutes. After all, Naruto didn't want to kill the guy he didn't know if he was anyone important and he didn't feel like being seen as a criminal over a misunderstanding. Naruto casually approached Armstrong who was trying to get feeling back in his body, desperately trying to keep Naruto from approaching him. Naruto gave Armstrong a dry look while watching his display.

"Look I'm only going to say this once," Naruto began, getting into Armstrong's face "I'm. Not. A. Freaking. CHIMERA."

….

….

"…Can you give me proof?"

"ARRAGH"

_Later_

After explaining to Armstrong the current situation and what had been going on up until now, Naruto and the apologetic Major continued the search for Alphonse Elric. While walking through the carnage that the other soldiers were responsible for which involved several chimera corpses littering the halls, Armstrong told him of his orders to cut down any and all chimera that he saw. Naruto raised an eyebrow at this, why kill everybody off instead of taking them alive for interrogation. The young jounin voiced his opinion only for Armstrong to answer with "You don't question orders, you simply follow them." Naruto thought that was total bullshit especially with what Naruto himself had done in the past and the slightly solemn tone the Major was using, it seems that he had contradicted his statement at some point. Who could blame him, not all orders were reasonable, Naruto's pleading for Sasuke's innocence when he was labeled a criminal and him disobeying orders to stay off the battlefield during the war were perfect testaments to that. But now he was getting off track, he needed to find Al before-

"AL" Naruto hear Ed shout from around the corner. Naruto quickly turned the corner to find Ed trying to get Al to speak to him as a bunch of M.P's removed a bloody corpse from within the armored boy. The corpse had a stab wound in its throat, obviously the cause of death and the culprit was pretty easy to point out sense the only person in the area with bladed weapons was a middle aged man with slicked back black hair and large moustache. He had an eye patch over his left eye and wore the same pants and boots as Armstrong and had a skin tight black shirt with suspenders connected to his pants and over his shoulders. What caught Naruto's interest was the fact that he had five sword sheaths but only one sword and Naruto noticed the look in the man's eye. The look of a man who was merciless, cold, power hungry, and he just seemed to give off the feeling of malicious intent. Naruto kept up a poker face to keep up with appearances but inwardly he felt weary of the man.

"**Gaki, that man is not normal by any means. I feel something similar to how Greed felt if only slightly different." **Kurama stated

"_A-are you sure, that would make him a…" _Naruto trailed off

"**I'm almost positive but, keep it to yourself until we're absolutely sure."** Kurama ordered

Naruto gave a mental nod and walked over to Ed as he finally got Al to wake up.

"…I couldn't save her." Naruto hear Al say

"You can't expect to save everyone, these things happen." Naruto stated

"Naruto," both brothers said at the same time.

"Sorry about that, I went looking for you, Al and if it wasn't for a small misunderstanding," Naruto gave Armstrong a pointed look "I may have been able to find you on time."

"Well it doesn't matter now, the Fuhrer was able to beat Greed and saved Al." Ed stated with a shrug. "We're all safe so it doesn't matter."

"Fuhrer?" Naruto said in confusion

"Yeah, Fuhrer King Bradley, he's Commander of the Amestris Military. You'd think you would know who he was, he runs the country." Ed explained, raising his eyebrow at Naruto, just who was this guy.

Naruto inwardly groaned, great one of his new supposed enemies ran the damn place, why couldn't his job be easier?

"Well, I guess we're done here, c'mon Al let's get you home so we can clean you up." Ed suggested while standing at full height.

"Hold it," Bradley commanded, the three teenagers turned to the older man. "I have a few questions to ask the three of you." The fact that Bradley included Naruto put him slightly on edge.

"Did any of you have any previous dealings with Greed?" Bradley asked

"Of course not" Ed replied

Did you trade any information with him?" Bradley continued

"No, and the military wasn't even mentioned once." Ed stated

"That's not my concern, let me be clear, if any of you made a deal with Greed of any sort that might affect the military, then I'll execute you all right now." Bradley said

Naruto's finger twitched towards his weapons pouch but, he held off until he had to actually use it if the situation escalated.

"I'll ask again did you have any deals with Greed?" Bradley asked

"No, can we go now?" Ed asked impatiently

"I'm curious about your automail and you brother's armored body, is there any connection between the two?" Both boys gasped but didn't have time to answer as Bradley set his sights on the blond Jinchuuriki.

"And you young man, tell me what your name is and your connection to the Elrics." Bradley demanded, Naruto decided that it would be best to play along lest he have a bullet in his head.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, as for how I know these guys, it was just a stroke of luck that I happened to be passing by when the Al was kidnapped and when Ed came looking for him, I decided to help him out. It wasn't a lie, it was chance that he ran into the Elrics.

"From what my subordinate tells me, you possess very abnormal abilities including the ability to use alchemy without a transmutation circle. I would like to know what those other abilities were." Bradley stated, Naruto just smirked turning toward Bradley with a discreet look of disgust in his eyes.

"It's called Ninjutsu and that's all the info you're gonna get, I was trained to be very secretive." Naruto explained with a smug tone, a silent look of fury past over the Fuhrer's face but it was gone in a flash.

"I see," Bradley turned around so his back was to the boys. "No further questions, I hope to see you and your brother soon, Fullmetal. Oh and you too of course, Uzumaki Naruto." With that said, Bradley and his soldiers went on their way.

_Later that night_

Bradley and Armstrong had arrived at the Curtis home to check up on Izumi and the Elrics for their injuries. While Bradley was having a conversation with Izumi in her bedroom, Armstrong and the boys were out back. While Armstrong was speaking to the Elrics, Naruto was standing up against the wall barely listening to the conversation, only catching words like, 5th Laboratory, Hughes, or Greed. Naruto was thinking over something he'd been wanting to try since he arrived.

"_I wonder if it will work."_

"**Quit thinking about it and try it already, trying won't hurt."**

Naruto shrugged and got off the wall, getting the others attention.

"What's up, Naruto?" Ed asked, Naruto only grinned at Ed as he brought his thumb to his mouth.

"Don't freak out, ok." Naruto said, much to the confusion of the others…until he bit down on his thumb hard enough to draw blood.

"W-what are you doing?" Al asked, why would anyone injure themselves for no reason.

"Wow, all I did was draw blood, I didn't even get to the freak out moment," Naruto stated with a deadpan look. Naruto flashed through hand seals and slammed his hand on the ground.

"**Kuchiyose no jutsu (Summoning Technique)!" **A puff of smoke later and everyone gasped when they saw an orange human sized toad with purple markings and wearing a blue jacket appeared out of nowhere.

"W-what the hell?" Ed stuttered while pointing to the giant toad. "T-that's a toad…A very big toad."

"**No shit, Sherlock," **Gamakichi said

"IT CAN TALK!" Was the response from the three non-ninja.

"Hey, 'Kichi, glad you could make it," A very exhausted Naruto said, falling on one knee. _"Damn, if summoning Gamakichi takes this much out of me, than Bunta and the others are out of the question."_

"**Naruto, where have you been? We've been trying to summon you to Myobokuzen all day but, keep getting backlashed. It's like something is blocking us from getting to you." **'Kichi explained

"I see," Naruto said taking a seat on the ground, turning to the others. "Before I explain the situation to 'Kichi, I believe I owe you guys some answers."

"Well I coulda told you that." Ed muttered, getting a chuckle out of his fellow blond

"Alright, we don't have time for the uncut version, so let me give you a director's cut of the story of my life."

_One explanation later_

"That's…some pretty heavy stuff." Ed said rubbing his head.

"Wow, so ninja are your primary military force…That's hard to take in." Al muttered

"Indeed but, we all saw how he fought and he admitted to us that he saw the gate, which explains his alchemy." Armstrong interjected

"That's the other thing that I can't seem to wrap my head around." Ed looked at Naruto intently. "The Truth gave you a mission to protect this country from a great evil. And in exchange for that he gave you alchemy. That seems way too generous."

"That's because it is, Ed. I did lose something to the gate, something internal." The others narrowed their eyes.

"You mean like Sensei?" Al asked

"No, I'm pretty sure all of my organs are in the correct places." Naruto stated, the boys did explain Izumi's condition earlier and it surprised Naruto now that was a miracle if he ever saw one. "No, it's got something to do with my chakra network, it's being block off at certain points. At the moment, I only have access to 25% of my full power."

"**Wow, bro that's hard to take in."** 'Kichi stated **"How are you gonna fight off those Homunculi creeps if you don't have full access to all your reserves?"**

"Don't worry about that, 'Kichi, I still have Sage Mode and Kurama's chakra to fall back on if needed. This world isn't as strong as ours from what I've seen so far so going full blast would be overkill and I think the Truth knew that. Even at a quarter of my power, I'm still strong enough to take out these Homunculi." Naruto stated

"**I hope so, bro, I'll head back to Konoha and give them your message. Call me when you need me."** With that Gamakichi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Well now that I've explained my life, I think it's time you gave me your own story." Naruto said smiling at the two brothers who just sat down and eventually the three teens began to exchange stories for the rest of the night.

_A few hours later_

"Return to me, Greed. Return and rejoin with the depths of my soul." Said a man sitting on a throne as his creations watched one of their brethren get destroyed before their eyes without even a hint of emotion.

"IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT, DAD JUST DON'T COMPLAIN WHEN I GIVE YOU A STOMACHACHE. YOU DID IT TO YOURSELF." Greed shouted in a mix of pain and psychotic laughter as he was reduced to a liquid in a wine glass that the man drank without hesitation, returning Greed to his soul.

"Now that, that is out of the way, Wrath, I believe you said that you had a bit of information you would like to share." The man said

"Why yes, it seems that Fullmetal and his brother have come across an interesting companion." Bradley, now revealed as Wrath stated.

"Really, do tell, Wrath." Lust said in her usual seductive voice.

"New companion? Can I eat him?" Gluttony asked excitedly

"Who cares?" Envy added

"It seems that he can perform transmutations without the use of a circle." This got the Homunculi's attention "As well as some other unknown abilities. I believe he called it Ninjutsu."

"So he's a worthy candidate for sacrifice. Do you think we should capture him?" Envy asked, although he didn't seem really enthusiastic about it, he was already babysitting a certain alchemist. Why another?

"Not at all, I simply find him interesting, let him travel with the Elrics until the Promised Day arrives." Wrath began, taking off his eye patch, revealing an Oroboros tattoo as his pupil. "Then he's mine!"

* * *

And that wraps up chapter 4 and concludes our time in Dublith, next time marks the appearance of an old friend…maybe depends on how I feel. Until next time, review honestly..Later ^^.


	5. Envoy from the East

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Naruto. If I did I wouldn't need to look for a job….EVER

"This" is talking

"**This" is Kurama/Truth/jutsu**

"_This" is thinking_

**Chapter 5:**

It was a quiet and peaceful night in East City, the streets were empty of civilians who wanted to get a good night's sleep. The only sign of life in town were the alchemic explosions going down a certain road….Wait, that didn't seem right. Yes, currently a white haired, dark skinned man with red eyes, a muscular build, and a large scar on his face was again causing trouble. The State Alchemist assassin known simply as Scar, a survivor of the destructive and bloody eastern conflict also known as, the Ishvalan Civil War, a war caused by an Amestrian soldier accidently shooting and killing an Ishvalan child. The war lasted for seven long, bloody years and was only ended when the military called in their human weapons, the State Alchemists. With their alchemic powers, the soldiers easily swept through the Ishvalans like flies. This in turn caused Scar to declare vengeance against the Amestrian State Alchemists and for months began attacking and killing any alchemist equipped with the State pocket watch by using his alchemically tattooed right arm to deconstruct their insides. He even attacked Ed and Al who were saved by their superiors but that's a story for another time.

Scar's current opponent, the Silver Alchemist, Giolio Comanche was a diminutive man who wore expensive looking clothes, had a peg leg, and wielded a sword rather well, even managing to cur scar deeply on his leg. The fight itself, did not last too long, Scar managed to get Giolio over the railing and into the river where he finished off the war hungry man. With the deed done, Scar exited the water and began to walk away from the soon to be crime scene when a figure approached him from behind.

"Are you going to continue following me everywhere I go, boy?" Scar asked as the figure came into view, his red tomoe eyes spinning, combined with the smirk on his face, gave off the feeling of amusement from the young man.

"As I told you before, Scar, my mission is to make sure you and a few others survive until the next spring and before you ask, no, I'm not allowed to tell you about the details of that day. Apparently, you're supposed to figure that out on your own." The young man explained

"….You're a strange child, Uchiha." Scar stated dryly, Sasuke just chuckled, walking past Scar. The serial killer caught a glimpse of the faraway look in Sasuke's eyes as the last Uchiha walked on.

"Strange huh? Trust me when I say that can count as a compliment to someone like me." With that, Sasuke used Shunshin to disappear from Scar's sight. The Ishvalan shook his head as he walked down the deserted streets, getting back to his hide out before the M.P's showed up.

Sasuke himself was standing on one of the roofs deep in thought. He hadn't really changed much over the last year, the only difference being his old gray shirt had been replaced by a midnight black version lined with silver and left partially unzipped to reveal the mesh shirt under. One other notable feature was a certain headband with a noticeable scratch tied to his right bicep. The last Uchiha let out a deep sigh as he gazed over the empty streets of Central.

"_I wonder if that creep was telling the truth when he sent me here? I may have gained this new Alchemy ability but losing most of my power just makes it seem useless." _ Sasuke clenched his fist tightly as he remembered the conversation that led to his current assignment.

**Flashback**

Hell, the fabled underworld of all things evil and filled with dark, twisted temptations and the consequences in having such thoughts. As far as anyone knew, Hell was filled with flames as hot as the sun and multiple levels that one must go to according to how atrocious their acts were when alive. However, this was not the case, what others knew was a complete lie. No, Hell was spending eternity in solitude reliving all of your most painful and twisted experiences in life and being forced to come up with solutions on what could've been done better. All while having to feel the pain of those you had hurt or have made suffer while you were alive. In Uchiha Sasuke's case, it was reliving his appalling treatment towards his former teammates and feeling their pain while he attacked and, in some cases, butchered them with his chokuto. All Sasuke could do was scream in agony and shame as he watched himself slowly creep to the brink of insanity and attempting to slaughter his former friends.

"AHHHH, I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" Sasuke shouted in pure guilt and pain as he felt the Chidori he stabbed through Naruto's lung over and over again. "PLEASE, I'LL DO ANYTHING DAMMIT! ANYTHING!"

"**Anything, you say?"**

Sasuke blinked and looked around but, all he could see was black. Being in Hell was the same as being blind unless the creatures inhabiting the environment want to be found in the darkness, so looking for the voice by sight was impossible.

"Who's there, show yourself!" Sasuke shouted, his voice strained due to the amount of screaming he had just done. The deceased Uchiha nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a tap on his shoulder and fell back in surprise when he saw a white figure outlined in a structure similar to his own body.

"**Hello, Uchiha Sasuke, I'm happy I finally get to meet you." **Truth said, the distorted voice making Sasuke flinch in slight fear and bewilderment.

"W-what are you?" Sasuke asked, fear evident in his voice

"**The world, God, the universe, Truth, I am all and I am you." **Truth stated pointing at Sasuke for empathize. Sasuke only backed up slowly, his time in this Hell had practically broke his will….multiple times. In other words, he freaked out fairly easy now and Truth knew this, why wouldn't it? It was the one that did this to Sasuke albeit indirectly, but still responsible.

"W-what do y-you want w-with me? Sasuke stuttered, it was clear that he lost his normal seriousness and cunning and it was replaced by a cowardice nature, then again, it was Hell for a reason.

"**Tell me, Uchiha, how would you feel if I gave you a chance at redemption?"** Truth gave a wide, creepy grin when Sasuke stood at attention, hope evident in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked

"**What I mean is, complete a task for me and if you show me a few certain attributes throughout this task, I will give you new life permanently until it is your true time."** Truth explained

"What's the task?" Sasuke asked, determination evident in his eyes. Truth grinned, amusement clearly showing.

"**Well, where should I begin?" **

Truth explained everything Sasuke would need to know which surprised the young Uchiha, he didn't think that this strange character would tell him much of anything. If only he knew that Truth was giving him the most basic information, everything else would have to be discovered by Sasuke himself.

"Okay, so all I have to do is keep this Amestris from getting wiped out? Doesn't seem too difficult." Sasuke stated

"**You would think so wouldn't you? Maybe with your full power, it would be no problem. However, because I need to test you and I need to follow regulation and take something important from you, let's just say it won't be as easy as you think." **Truth explained

"What do you mean by that?" Sasuke demanded

"**No need to raise your voice, it's simply my job. Remember I'm sending you to a whole new world, that doesn't come cheap and it would upset the balance if I sent you at full power." **

Sasuke growled in frustration, why did this have to be so complicated? He could simply use his Sharingan and get the job done in no time.

"**You don't need to be angry, to compensate for your lack of power; I will give you knowledge on the science of Alchemy, the power used by that world. And I shall give you the option of choosing one individual from your world to help you on your mission."** Truth grinned when Sasuke's head snapped up, a smirk plastered on his face.

"I know just the guy, he'll jump at the chance for something like this. Besides, I want to see if he's improved at all." Sasuke said with a shrug

"**Oh, and who might that be?"**

**End flashback**

"Uzumaki Naruto," Sasuke whispered as he looked up in the sky from his place on the roof. "I get the feeling I'll be seeing you soon, dobe."

_The next day_

Rush Valley was bustling as it normally was, tourists taking in the sights and merchandise while automail enthusiasts examined different types of the machinery.

"This place sure hasn't changed." Al said as he, Ed, and Naruto walked down the road.

"Yeah, cool, I just hope that Winry won't knock me into any of these stores, this crap looks expensive." Ed said while staring at his damaged arm, taped in certain places to keep it from falling apart. Naruto, now garbed in his sage coat now sporting a high collar similar to his father, just stared at the scenery. To him everything seemed so primitive yet advanced at the same time. It was an odd sight to say the least. But, always one to tease, Naruto jumped in front of his new friend in a 'nice guy' pose.

"Winry? I see so little Ed's gotta little lady, way to go." Naruto immediately ducked under a punch that would've knocked him out considering it was automail enhanced.

"DON'T CALL ME SHORT!" Ed shouted while Al just sighed at his brother's denial. "And Winry is just my mechanic nothing more."

"You sure about that, they say denial is the first stage." Naruto teased

"Oh shut up, this coming from the guy who couldn't even get a girl to notice him and you were always around her to boot." Ed retorted, referring to Sakura.

Naruto just gave a hollow chuckle when he thought about the pink haired girl, she just wasn't the same after the war or more directly, Sasuke's death at his hands.

"Yeah well, she had eyes for someone else like I told you. But on the bright side, I did manage to find someone to take notice in me." Naruto paused as memories of Hinata came to him. "And I can't wait to see her again, I'm telling you Edward I know that you have feelings for this girl despite your denial. You should at least try to be happy."

Ed just blushed and mumbled a 'whatever' under his breath as they approached the automail shop that Winry was currently working at.

"Hey Winry, you seem to be in great mood today." Ed said as he gave the blonde haired, blue eyed girl a nervous smile. Naruto couldn't help the small whistle that escaped his lips as he gave Winry a once over. He had to admit, Ed had good taste in women.

"Hey Ed, Al what brings you all the way out here." Ed lifted his damaged arm….and felt the hard, cold metal of a giant wrench smacking him on his head. Naruto blinked a couple times, he thought he saw Ed's soul leave his body for a moment but Al put it back….K.

"YOU IDIOT, DO YOU HAVE SOME FETISH THAT INVOLVES DESTROYING MY HARD WORK?" Winry shouted before turning to look at Naruto in mild confusion. "And who are you?"

"Um, Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto began, taking a few steps back lest he become the wrench's next target. "You can call me, Ed's and Al's new travel companion. I've heard plenty about you in the short time I've known them, Winry."

"What did they say?" Winry asked clutching her wrench a little more while glaring at the Elric's just to warn them that they better had not said anything embarrassing. Naruto noticed and gave a mischievous grin towards Ed making the other blonde pale.

"Well, Al just said you were a kind childhood friend who helped out from time to time." Al gave a sigh a relief "Ed told me a few things of interest."

"Really, like what," Winry asked in a sickly sweet voice that promised pain if she heard something she didn't like. Ed felt a lump in his throat when he saw the look on her face, he hoped Naruto wasn't trying to kill him.

"He said, that he thought you were a fantastic mechanic, he loved seeing you anytime he had the chance, and he thought you were beautiful." Naruto inwardly grinned when he saw Winry go cherry red at the compliments. Naruto saw how much Ed and Al were suffering despite their tough exteriors and he did notice anytime Ed spoke of Winry, he seemed to brighten up slightly. Ed may what to kill him now, but Naruto knew Ed would thank him later. If only Naruto knew the true extent of Ed's stubbornness and unfortunately he was about to find out.

"Ed…is that true-"

"NO WAY, I WOULD NEVER SAY ANY OF THAT CRAP ABOUT YOU." Ed shouted in embarrassment and slight irritation, not able to stop the words from coming out of his mouth before it was too late.

Silence

Naruto's eyes widened and he gave Ed a hard glare while Ed just looked at his brother in shock and disappointment. Naruto noticed the tears prickling at the sides of Winry's eyes and felt guilty because he was responsible.

"I see….I'll go…by the parts…I need for…your arm." Winry said between silent sobs before rushing off in the opposite direction.

Ed was thoroughly confused at what he had done and felt like crap, he never thought he would make Winry cry like that and it hurt. Naruto just shook his head and approached Ed, putting a hand on the smaller blonde's shoulder.

"Ed, I'm sorry I was only trying to help." Naruto said

"Don't worry about it, it's fine, she'll get over it." Ed stated, beginning to walk off only for Naruto's grip to get harder. "What are you doing?"

"So you aren't going to try and fix this?" Naruto growled "At least talk to her, Ed. Maybe, you can finally have something to look forward to once you get your body back."

Ed took a moment to ponder the idea of him and Winry being together….and began to blush….and blush…and blush.

"Uh, Nii-san," Al said catching his brother's attention. "I realize you're having a moment but, I think I found something that may need our attention.

"Well what is it?" Ed asked

"Well," Ed lifted an unconscious teenager from the ground. "This"

Ed and Naruto than began to panic

_Later_

Whoa, you guys are life savers, thanks a lot." The teen said, he was clearly foreign to the Elric's, he wore baggy white pants, black shoes, and a yellow jacket with designs in white. He also had a short sword strapped to the small of his back by a white cloth and had his spiky black hair in a ponytail. "Your treat right."

"When did I say we were paying?" Ed asked with a deadpan expression

"Let's not argue over something so small." The kid said, waving off the question

"WHO YA CALLING SMALL?" Ed shouted as the kid continued to chuckle

"Oh how lucky I am to have found such hospitality and so far from home." The kid stated with crocodile tears, making Naruto sweat drop at the show.

"_What's up with this kid, I've seen rookie genin put on a more believable act. Just what is he up to?" _Naruto thought, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"'Far from home'? You mean you're not from here?" Al asked

"That's right, I'm from Xing." The kid answered

"Oh Xing, that's….the country east of the desert?" Ed asked, a hint of surprise in his voice

"Yup, and crossing that desert was tough let me tell you." The kid explained

By this point the conversation began to divert towards the militaristic nature of Amestris and it's relationships with the neighboring countries surrounding them. Naruto could relate towards the situation of Amestris, considering Konoha was in a similar situation at least a year before. Naruto was slightly intrigued by the Xingese style of Alchemy known as Alkahestry as it was used for medical purposes. He wondered if that knowledge could be useful later, only time would tell. Naruto was cut off from his thoughts when the young man introduced himself.

"My name is Ling Yao." He said

"Edward Elric and this is my brother, Alphonse." Ed stated with a smile

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto said with a grin

"It's a pleasure," Ling said as they all shook hands

"So Ling, what can you tell us about Alkahestry?" Ed asked

"Well nothing, sorry but I don't practice it." Ling stated with a sheepish grin making the other three face fault.

"If you don't practice Alkahestry, why would you come all the way here to study it?" Ed questioned through gritted teeth.

"Well I'm looking for something, I believe you may have heard of it…The Philosopher's Stone." Ling's demeanor suddenly changed and the air became thick with tension. "I'm very eager to find it."

The three looked at each other in slight panic before Ed got up from his seat with the other two following.

"I'm sorry, we can't help you." Ed stated, wanting to get as far away from this guy as possible. A wide grin appeared on Ling's face, it looks like he found his answers.

"Hm, you wouldn't be lying to me now would you?" With a snap of his fingers two ninja appeared holding bladed weapons, one at the inside of Al's armor and the other had a blade at Ed's throat. Ling himself, had his sword poised at Naruto's jugular

"Now what can you three tell me?" Ling asked casually, even if the situation wasn't so subtle.

"Why are you so interested in the stone?" Ed countered

"I want to achieve immortality," Ling answered, receiving a short chuckle from Naruto. "Oh, so my goal is funny to you?"

"Of course it is, your goal won't lead you anywhere trust me I know. An old enemy of mine tried to achieve such a feet only to fail in death." Naruto explained, referring to Orochimaru and his twisted goals

"Well then, that's just a risk I'm going to have to take." Ling retorted

Ed used the distraction to push the kunai away from his throat and sent a fist directed at the masked ninja. The ninja easily dodged the attack with a flip over the shocked blonde and followed up the routine with a drop kick.

"Ed/Nii-san!" Naruto and Al shouted in concern, the ninja who was threatening Al took his movement as a sign of retaliation and spin kicked Al in his face, knocking the body-less teen to the ground next to his clearly irritated brother.

"Geez, is that guy an acrobat?" Ed commented off handily.

"Must be a Xingese fighting style, could be tough to beat." Al stated

"Even so they're still not as strong," Ed began

"As sensei," both boys said, going after their opponents and leaving Naruto alone with Ling.

"Your friends seem enthusiastic when it comes to fighting." Ling stated, looking at the blue lightning in the sky which were the tell-tale signs of Alchemy being used.

"I think it's Ed whose like that, Al doesn't seem like the type to enjoy fighting." Naruto said, Ling raised an eyebrow at his supposed hostage's calm demeanor.

"You seem rather calm for someone in your situation." Naruto grinned…then exploded, blasting Ling away…or he would have if the young warrior was slower. Ling managed to jump into the air just in time and landed on a nearby roof.

"What the hell, I never thought he would pull a kamikaze method." Ling said in shock

"Who said I was a kamikaze?"

Ling snapped his neck behind him.

"What?"

"**Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!"**

A gust of wind smashed into Ling knocking him high into the air. Naruto transmuted a ninjato and jumped after Ling who regained his wits fast enough to land on the ground and pull out his sword to engage in a blade on blade battle.

"That was a surprising display, Naruto. Just what was that technique you used to blow yourself up…even though you're still here." Ling inquired

"It's called **Bunshin Daibakuha** **(Great Clone Explosion)**" Naruto stated

"Wow that's incredible," suddenly two explosions went off in the distance, distracting Naruto long enough for Ling to kick him in the face and give him the slip.

"_That dirty bastard," _Naruto thought as he got off the ground, rubbing his cheek.

"Naruto," said Shinobi turned to find both Elric brothers and a dark skinned girl in blue overalls running towards him. He also took notice of Ed's arm being completely trashed now which made him shake his head in pity, Winry was about to have a field day with her wrench.

"Hey guys, I take it Ling's body guards gave you the slip too huh?" The twitching of Ed's eye was all the answer he needed. "Okay then, looks like we gotta clean up here, lest we get the whole town on our asses."

_Later_

The four walked into the automail shop…to find Ling having tea with the owner (whose name escapes me at the moment).

….

….

"**Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)!"** Naruto made sure it was an incomplete version that didn't tear through the skin but it would leave a nasty bruise. Ling bounced off the wall and lay there with a twitching leg.

"WHAT'S YOUR SORRY ASS DOING HERE!?" Ed shouted

"Now, now, we're all friends here right?" Ling asked, which got a shout of 'Bullshit' from Naruto

"That's how you treat your friends? By sicking your dogs on them? Those two didn't go easy." Ed growled in annoyance

"Don't worry I promise I'll give them a talking to later. The girl's name is Lan-Fan, the old man is called Fu. Their clan has served my family for generations, they're very good at what they do." Ling explained

"Oh so the guy who was lying half dead on the street and mooches off us can somehow afford two bodyguards?" Naruto commented

"Well I am the emperor's son after all." Ling retorted

"So that makes you…a prince?" All three fell on the ground in laughter, commenting on how he shook them down for a meal and he's supposed to be a prince. A kunai imbedded itself near Ed's crotch causing the three to jump.

"Do not insult Ling-sama," Lan-Fan stated from the window.

"Nice to see you," Ed deadpanned.

Ling went on to explain the structure of Xing, how many clan's there were, and the reasons behind his quest for immortality which was to provide for his people and give him a better chance at taking the thrown. And with the current emperor's health depleting it was sort of a competition for the heirs and getting the Philosopher's Stone would give Ling an edge. Naruto had to admit, it was a noble cause. At least he wasn't trying to pull an Orochimaru and steal another person's body. Eventually, Winry came back to the shop and beat Ed to holy hell due to the condition of his arm and Al noticed the beating was harsher than usual. Naruto winced at that considering he was partly responsible for Winry's current attitude, he just hoped that Ed could fix things.

"So you guys are heading back to Central?" Winry asked, her tone was slightly depressed making Ed look away, he'll have to talk to her the next time they're alone.

"Yeah," Ed answered

"You mind if I go, I want to see the Hughes family again." Winry said, her tone lighting up a little

"Well get your things ready, we head out in the morning." Ed stated with a soft smile on his face

"Oh yay, we're going to Central." Ling said happily from the window

"I TOLD YOU YOU'RE NOT COMING WITH US."

* * *

And that ends chapter 5 hope you enjoyed it ^^.


	6. Oh the Drama!

I don't own anything

"This" is talking

"**This" is Kurama/Truth/Jutsu**

"_This" is thinking_

**Chapter 6:**

_Flashback_

Sasuke groaned; his body felt like lead, whatever that freak did to him it wasn't comfortable. He sat up to find himself in the middle of a field…with a hobo standing over him. Acting on instinct, Sasuke unsheathed his chokuto, holding it at the man's throat.

"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded, though his tone held no real emotion.

"No, please don't hurt me! I wasn't trying to steal anything I swear!" The man cried

"….I never said you were." Sasuke deadpanned with a slight twitch in his eyebrow. The man realized his mistake…and snatched the hitai-ate on Sasuke's bicep.

"HEY," Sasuke chased after the man, taking notice at the fact that his speed had become diminished immensely. He felt incredibly irritated; how weak was he exactly? Sasuke shook his head, now wasn't the time to think about that. _"This guy is clearly a civilian so I need to be careful." _

Sasuke stopped in his tracks while the man kept running, thinking that the Uchiha was catching his breath. Sasuke lifted his right hand, a Chidori bursting to life. Sasuke aimed carefully and….

"**Chidori Senbon (Thousand Birds Senbon)!" **he fired electric needles making sure they were weak so he wouldn't cause any permanent or mortal damage.

"OUCH," The man fell over stiff and began to cry comically as Sasuke casually walked up to him. "PLEASE DON'T HURT ME, PLEASE SPARE MY LIFE!"

Sasuke simply reached down and grabbed his hitai-ate, completely ignoring the man as he re-tied it. "My jutsu should wear off in a few minutes; once it does, I recommend you don't try to steal anyone else's belongings. Now I must be on my way, have a good day…"

"Y-Yoki," Yoki said shakily

"Yoki-san" as Sasuke walked off, he felt a strange presence rush towards him. Acting on instinct, Sasuke clapped his hands together and slammed them on the ground creating a slab of stone behind him.

*CRASH*

The stone was instantly destroyed; a large, muscular arm with a complicated looking tattoo was outstretched an inch from the Uchiha's face.

"Well that was close," Sasuke stated "Nice try though, that would've caught anyone else by surprise."

"Another alchemist who doesn't need circles huh? Interesting, what's your name boy?" the man asked/demanded as the transmuted rock began to collapse, picking up dust around them.

"You know its common courtesy to tell someone your own name before they give you their own." Sasuke retorted, jumping into the clearing to get a better look at the man.

"I abandoned my name long ago, however the military of this nation has given me the name Scar." Scar responded, making Sasuke smirk slightly.

"_So this is Scar, he's one of the people that will make a difference on the promised day. Let's see just how good he is." _Sasuke thought, unsheathing his chokuto

"Scar huh, the name is Uchiha Sasuke. Now let's see if the rumors about you were true." Sasuke shunshined behind the surprised man and sent a swift kick to his side, sending the man tumbling along the field. Scar recovered with a quick side flip and rushed Sasuke, clawing at the young Uchiha with his right arm. Sasuke jumped onto the Ishvalan's back and roughly leaped off making Scar lose his balance, falling to the ground.

Though embarrassed, Scar leaped back up and slammed the ground with his right arm, deconstructing it and making Sasuke fall on his ass as the ground under his feet was imploded into itself. Scar took his chance and pounced on the young Uchiha who barely had enough time to roll out of the way of the man's arm, lest his brain gets turned to mush. Scar saw this and sent a kick to his ribs before he was able to get off the ground. Sasuke winced, he thought he felt a rib crack from the assault but he recovered nonetheless.

"_This boy has some keen experience as a warrior. I wonder where he learned to fight like this." _Scar thought as he stood up, bringing his right hand up and clenching his fingers. _"No matter, he is a hindrance at the moment and must be dealt with."_

Before Scar could move however, the Sasuke in front of him exploded. The shockwave was strong enough to blow the Ishvalan off his feet and on his back. "W-what?"

Sasuke hovered over Scar with his chokuto pointed downwards with Raiton chakra coursing through it.

"I think that's enough for now," Sasuke re-sheathed his blade and helped Scar to his feet.

"Why didn't you finish me off? And what was that explosion just now?" Scar demanded

"Well for one, I didn't finish you because you're an important figure for Amestris and are destined for something that will shake the foundations of this country." Sasuke answered

"W-what do you mean?" Scar once again demanded

"I can't answer that just yet." Sasuke replied

"So how do I know that what you say is true?" Scar asked

Sasuke sighed; he had no time for this.

"Look how about this: I can stick by your side, keeping the M.P's away from you for the time being until this entire mess is sorted out. Or I can leave you to your own devices while watching over you from afar which can potentially get you caught and convicted for your crimes."

Sasuke knew he had Scar after that, the man was smart sure, however he knew that the young shinobi was powerful and could have killed him with _ease _during their little spat. He knew with Sasuke at his side he would have an easier time keeping the military off of him. The serial killer knew he couldn't pass this up.

"Fine Uchiha, I'll allow you to follow me just don't get in my way."

Sasuke smirked, his Sharingan flaring briefly making Scar do a double take.

"I thought you'd see things my way."

_End Flashback_

"Sasuke-san, hello anyone in there?"

Sasuke's eyes snapped open, he winced at the sunlight that showed through the small cabin he and his new team had taken salvation in, for now anyway.

"What is it May, I'm trying to meditate." Sasuke said in slight irritation

"Really, because you looked like you were sleeping." May retorted with a deadpanned expression on her face.

May-Chang was a girl a couple years younger than Sasuke of course you'd never know that at first glance considering she was the size of a nine year old little girl. She was also the princess of the Chang clan of Xing and had traveled to Amestris with her small panda, Shao-May to find the power of immortality. (Sound familiar?)

Sasuke scoffed at the girl's declaration, after spending three years with Orochimaru and taking out the Orochimaru-powered Kabuto during the war as well as the Sannin himself multiple times, he knew that immortality was nothing more than a pipe dream. Although he did take interest in her upbringing, being the son of the Uchiha Clan leader as a child did qualify him as a type of prince so he felt some type of common ground with the girl.

Of course that didn't mean he completely liked the girl do to her fan-girlish shriek that she made when he first met her which reminded him WAY too much of his time at the academy. (Which he still cringes about today)

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched slightly at the expression on May's face so he took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"I was meditating," Sasuke said calmly.

"You were sleeping," May replied blankly.

"Meditating," Sasuke stated with a little force in his voice

"Sleeping," May retorted with equal force

Sasuke snapped

"I WAS MEDITATING YOU DAMN MIDGET!"

Now May snapped

"YOU WERE SLEEPING, I HEARD YOU SNORING DUCK-ASS!"

Sasuke had the decency to blush and look away, ending the argument and, unknown to the two, keeping Scar from blowing both their brains out as he clenched his fist in annoyance.

"_These damn brats are going to be the death of me."_ Scar thought

"_HA! I win," _May patted herself on the back

"_Why am I with these people?_" Yoki began to cry

"_The Dobe would be annoyed by this girl and that's saying something." _Sasuke mused while glaring at the grinning May

_With Naruto_

"ACHOO," Naruto sneezed

"Cover your mouth," Winry chided

"Sorry,"

Naruto, Ed, Al, and the still slightly irritated Winry were currently exiting the train that had taken them to Central. The ride was uneventful most of the time the only thing of interest that came up every now and then would be when Ed tried to speak to Winry and the response he would receive would be a blow to the head courtesy of the mechanic's wrench.

Naruto winced, he knew he was at fault (partially) for what happened between the two in Rush Valley but that didn't excuse Ed from flat out avoiding the topic of his relationship with Winry. Alphonse just sighed at his older brother's stupidity; he never could understand why his brother wouldn't tell Winry how he felt about her and vice-versa.

"_What can I do though; it's none of my business anyway." _Al reasoned with himself.

Winry herself had been rather irritable the entire time on the train, only giving one word answers when being questioned by Al and glaring bloody murder at Naruto for being the catalyst for her recent dilemma. Ed was getting the worst treatment; he couldn't even talk to the girl without getting hit with a tool of some kind which of course led to arguments between the two which ended in more bodily harm for Ed.

The group of four stood in the middle of the station with an awkward air around them, obviously still thinking of the unpleasant ride.

"I'm going to go see Mrs. Hughes," Winry stated before turning on her heel to leave. Naruto and to some extent, Al gave Ed a look that clearly said 'follow her or we hurt you'. Ed sighed and ran up to the blonde girl before she got too far and grabbed her shoulder.

"Wait, Winry let me-" Winry shrugged off Ed's hand roughly

"Don't touch me," Winry said in an even tone "I'm going alone, go check in with Central Headquarters."

Ed narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists; he was getting sick of this.

"What's your problem, I'm just trying to be helpful. I haven't even done anything-"

"EXACTLY," Winry shouted cutting Ed off and getting the others attention. "YOU DID NOTHING…nothing at all." Tears began to well up in her eyes.

Ed reached out to wipe them away only for Winry to slap his hand away and hurriedly wipe them away herself. "Just go meet with headquarters and leave me alone."

"But Winry,"

"GO AWAY!" Winry bolted out of the station, leaving the boys behind.

There was a tense silence afterwards with Ed clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Ed," the alchemist looked over to a concerned looking Naruto and his little brother. He sighed, pushing down his guilt for now.

"I'll be fine, let's just go before we attract any more attention." Ed said, walking off without even looking back.

_Later_

They made it to HQ without any incident although both Al and Naruto could tell that Ed's mind wasn't on anything unless it was Winry related. In fact, Ed was so absent-minded he didn't notice a certain Colonel rounding the corner he was going towards. The result?

*CRASH*

Why knocking said person on his ass of course.

"OW, what the hell?" Ed groaned, rubbing his sore skull.

"That's my line, Fullmetal why don't you watch where you're going?"

Ed gritted his teeth, why the hell did this guy have to be here?

"What are you doing here Mustang?" Ed asked

Hovering over Ed was his commanding officer from East City, Colonel Roy Mustang and his partner 1st Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye.

"Didn't you here kid I got transferred, looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other now." Mustang answered a little smugly

"Goody,"

Mustang simply smirked and looked over towards Al's and Naruto's direction. "How've you been Alphonse, been keeping your hard-headed brother in line I hope."

"O-of course sir," Al answered shyly

That's when the Flame Alchemist noticed the new addition to the group who was quirking in eyebrow at him.

Naruto couldn't help but see something familiar while staring at the Colonel.

"_Pale skin, black eyes, raven hair, loves to wear blue, that smug look…on…his….face." _

Naruto felt his right eye twitch uncontrollably as he stared at Mustang.

"Hey you wouldn't happen to be related by anyone named Uchiha would you?" Naruto asked

"Uh no, why do you ask?" Mustang questioned uncomfortably

"That smug look on your face makes me want to beat your skull in just like an old douche of a friend I used to have." Naruto answered bluntly with his eye still twitching

At that moment, Mustang wondered if turning are favorite blonde shinobi into a roast was legal.

"…What's your name?" Mustang asked pointing at Naruto

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto replied

Mustang looked at Al than back to Naruto.

"Keep your pet fox on a leash would you, Al?" Mustang suggested

This had the wanted effect because Naruto ended up being held back by both Elric's while shouting obscenities at the Colonel.

After Naruto calmed down to the point of not wanting to assault an M.P, Ed finally gave their reasoning for being in HQ.

"We came to see Lieutenant-Colonel Hughes; I never thanked him for visiting me in the hospital so often." Ed stated

Mustang and Hawkeye stiffened, the action going unnoticed by the Elric's but being the experienced shinobi and war veteran that Naruto was, he picked up on the action immediately and narrowed his eyes.

"..He's not here," was Mustang's answer

"What do you mean?" Al asked confused

"He retired out in the country and took his family with him, so he's not here." Mustang answered in a very quiet tone. He hoped that the boys would buy it for now; he didn't want them to know that he Maes died helping them.

"He's dead isn't he?"

Unfortunately, he didn't take into account the young jounin shinobi standing only a couple of feet away with narrowed eyes.

"Don't lie to them, Mustang." Naruto stated coldly "Lying to protect them from the truth will only make things worse."

While this was going on, both Elric's looked visibly panicked (which is not easy an easy feet for Al).

"I-is it true?" Ed demanded, completely shaken

"Edward," Hawkeye intervened, trying to comfort the young alchemist.

"IS IT TRUE!?" Ed shouted

"…I'm sorry-ED!" Ed bolted for the exit to the building, nearly crashing into Maria Ross who was directly behind him at that point. Al followed his brother while trying to ignore Hawkeye's shouts to come back.

Naruto groaned in frustration, first Winry and now this? What was with all the drama surrounding him lately? Naruto was so caught up in his musings; he didn't notice Mustang grab him by his coat until he had felt the tugging.

"What is your problem kid? If you noticed the lie than why did you bring it up, I was trying to protect them." Mustang growled, Naruto shoved the Flame Alchemist away from him. Hawkeye took out her gun at the possible threat that Naruto may pose while Ross hurriedly went on her way, not wanting to be caught in the possible crossfire.

Naruto snorted when he saw Hawkeye's gun aimed in his direction. "You should put that thing away; your toy won't have any effect anyway."

"Watch it kid, you're not in the position to be making decisions. Now tell me who you are; judging by your state of dress I'd say you're a foreigner. Why are you following those two around and what are you after?" Mustang questioned continuously

"I already told you my name is Uzumaki Naruto and yes I'm not from around here. No, I won't tell you where I'm from because you wouldn't believe me anyway. I'm following the Elric's because they are friends and the only thing I'm after is peace." Naruto answered every question thrown at him in stride and with a pretty good poker face as well. "Look, if all you're going to do is bitch me out about dropping the ball like I just did then don't. Ed and Al needed to know that their journey and what they are going after may lead to bloodshed and the possibility that they can lose everything they hold dear. And I'm not talking out of my ass either; I know from experience that not everything will go as planned."

A young Sasuke during his genin days flashed through his mind followed by the Sasuke he encountered in Iron Country.

"And I know to some extent, they both know that pain but it doesn't compare to what I've gone through. They need to let go of that denial that no one will get hurt again or they could end up just like Hughes." Naruto caught the punch that Mustang threw at him with ease. Naruto gave Mustang a glare enhanced by glowing orange slit eyes.

"And you need to let go of that anger and hatred in your heart. A wise man once told me that hatred will only breed more hatred so if you want to help those boys and avenge Hughes, do so with a level head or it could mean your death. Now I'm going to find Ed and Al so I'll leave you to think over what I just told you."

With that done, Naruto vanished with a shunshin. Mustang dropped to his knees, sweating profusely.

"Colonel Mustang sir, are you ok?" Hawkeye asked in concern.

"W-who was that boy?"

* * *

And that's a wrap, don't be mad I know it's been a while since I updated and I give you a chapter with very little action, don't worry though next time things start to pick up I promise. Until then, happy reading later ^^.


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